diff --git a/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm b/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
index e422109078..aafc7739a3 100755
--- a/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
+++ b/bld/CLMBuildNamelist.pm
@@ -2932,8 +2932,8 @@ sub setup_logic_do_harvest {
          $cannot_be_true = "$var can only be set to true when running a transient case (flanduse_timeseries non-blank)";
       }
 
-      elsif (!&value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_cn')) && &value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_fates'))) {
-         $cannot_be_true = "$var can only be set to true when running with either CN or FATES";
+      elsif (!&value_is_true($nl->get_value('use_cn'))) {
+         $cannot_be_true = "$var can only be set to true when running with CN.  Please set use_cn to true.";
       }
 
       if ($cannot_be_true) {